Senescent cells play a uniquely dual role in the body: in the younger stages of life, they are crucial in helping heal wounds, yet later in life, they contribute to certain aspects of aging.

The powerful influence senescence cells have on the body is what drives Peter de Keizer, an anti-aging researcher at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. In this Future Tech “Almost Here” podcast, Anti-Aging, de Keizer takes us deep into his research. His goal is to find a way to purge these senescent cells before they cause irreparable damage.

When a cell reaches its damage threshold, it either dies (apoptosis) or hibernates (senescence). de Keizer discusses what happens when the cells that refuse to die begin to accumulate and how he and his team have found two different ways to disrupt cell senescence. While this seems like great news, de Keizer explains that if done in the wrong way or at the wrong time, the cells can turn toxic and cause unintended damage.

He also describes the results from experiments on aging mice and what it might mean for humans. Since the effects on both long-term health and on healthy people in their 50s and 60s still need to be determined, de Keizer also cautions against people who are understandably eager to acquire this at any cost and describes what’s happening to people who are going about it the wrong way.

You’ll also learn:

Why cell death is more common when you’re younger and cell senescence more common when you’re older as well as what determines cell death or senescence

The science behind why this is not the Elixir of Life to make you immortal but instead is a method to improve your health span (i.e., quality of life) in your later years; even so, though our lifespans are increasing, there might actually be an age cap that humans cannot surpass

What’s in store for the rest of 2017 and into 2018: despite all the challenges, are we really this close to a breakthrough?

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